Folded box blank crushing and gluing machine



March 10, 1959 J. P. LoPE rSAL FoLDE'Box BLANK `CRI'HNG AND QLUINGMACHINE Filed April 8, 1957 vENToRs. JoH/v PEOPEZ. ALFRED CMQ/v4G/-lA/v.

v vfw ATTORNEYS March 10, `1959 I J. P. LOPEZ ErAL Forman Box BLANKCRUSHINGAND GLUING MACHINE Filed April 8, '41957 9 Sheets-Sheet 3INVENTORS ALg o (MONAGHAN.

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A TONEYS l Mach 10, 1959 IJ. P. LOPEZ ETAL FOLDD BOX BLANK CRUSHING ANDGLUING Filed April 8, 1 957 MACHINE v 9 Sheef's-Sheet 4 ifA PEZ.

ATTORNEYS J. P. LOPEZ ETAL FOLDED 'BOX BLANK CRUSHING -AND GLUINGMACHINE March 1o, 1959 INVENToRs. JoHNPLoPEz ABLYFREDCoA/AGHAM QMATTORNEYS Filed April 8, 1957 March 10, 1959 J. P. LOPEZ ETYAL 2,876,731

. FGLDED yBox BLANK CRUSHING AND GLUING momma Filed April 8, 1957 9Sheets-Sheet 6 INVENTORS. J'oHNRLo/osz.

ATTORN EYS March J. P. LOPEZ ETAL FGLDED Box BLANK cRusHING AND GLUINGMACHINE- Filed April 8,' v195'? Joh/NP ATTORNEYS Mrch l0, 1959 J. P.LOPEZ ETAL l2,876,731

FGLDED BOX LANK CRUSHING AND GLUING MACHINE Filed April 8, I957 9Sheets-Sheet 8 VENTORS. JOHN PFD/DEZ' ATTORNEYS March l0, 1959 J. P.LOPEZ ETAL 2,876,731'

' FGLDED -Box BLANK cR'UsHING AND GLUING MACHINE Filed April 8, 1957 9sheets-sheet 9 -Fza l A12/6 5 j ALF-grep C. lWA/AGHAN.

ATTORNEYS FOLDED BOX BLANK CRUSHING AND GLUING MACHINE .iohn l. Lopez,Westfield, and Alfred C. Monaghan, Union, N. i., assignorsto UniversalCorrugated Box Machinery Corporation, Linden, NJ., a corporation 'of NewYork Application April s, i957, serial No. 651,435

1li claims. (ci. risata) Y This linvention relates to the art ofcorrugated box machinery and more particularly to amachine for ,crushingthe connecting portionspat the free ends'of a folded 'box blank andapplying glue thereto.

As conducive to an understanding of the invention, it is noted thatwhere folding boxes are formed from an elongated sheet which hasconnecting portions at each end, at least one of which is a portion ofone of the free ends of the sheet, which are overlapped and formedtogether as by gluing, if at least one of such connecting portions isnot crushed prior to joining, the box blanks will not stack properlyldue to undue bulging at the connected portions thereof.

Where the crushing operation to the connecting portions is eliected byadvancing the sheet in extended flat condition between crushing rollerswhich have segmental cams thereon designed to contact only theconnecting portions of the'blank, in order to prevent crushing of theentire width of the free end of the sheet, which might cause improperbending of the joined kcorner when the complete box blank is opened,precise alignment must be made of such segmental cams and where variousruns of blanks are made having connecting portions of different widths,the segmental cams must be changed requiring stoppage of the equipmentwith resultant inefciency of operation.

It is accordingly among the objects of the invention to provide amachine of the above type which is relatively simple in construction,which will effect the crushing of only the connecting portions of thebox blank without the need for segmental cams or the like and which maybe used on runs of blanks having connecting portions of different Widthwithout need for adjustment of the equipment for this purpose.

According to the invention, the machine comprises a pair of parallelside conveyors between which the reversely bent ends of a folded boxblank are positioned for advance through the crushing operation. Aconveyor extending between the lside conveyors and beneath the lattersupports the bottom of the folded blank. The overlapping connectingportions at the free ends ofthe folded box blank are advanced between apair of crushing rollers of width equal to that of the connectingportions and spaced by an amount which may be equal to the thickness ofthe sheet from which the blank is formed so that only the overlappingconnecting portions will be crushed.

More specically, the machine comprises means operative after thecrushing operation has been eected, to space the connecting portions andto apply glue to the upper surface of the lower crushed connectingportion so that thereafter the two connecting portions may be joinedtogether.

In another embodiment of the invention, where the connecting portionsare a considerable portion of the width of the sheet, in order toprevent improper folding at the arent 'fil joined corners, only one ofthe connecting portions is 2,876,731 Patented Mar'.A l0, 1959 crushed.To this AendA the lirst rset of crushing rollers may be eliminated orspaced to be inoperative andanother set of crushing rollers are providedpositioned after the means to space such connecting portions and theequipment has means to advance only Athe lower .connecting portionbetween thesecond set of crushing rollers so that when the connectingportions are. `thereafter joined, the box blank will fold onlyy alongthe line of said crushed connecting portion. I n ,Y l

ln the accompanying drawings Vinwhich A.are shown one or more`ofyariousv possible embodiments v'of the severalfeatures of theinvention, y Y,

Fig. l is, a sidejelevational view of the machine,

Figs. Zand 3 are top plan views of thevrriachine A,

Figs. 4 and 5 are top plan views of the crushing rollers support, A Y vi Fig.'6 is a side elevational view taken along line 6 6 ofFig. 2, f j

Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. 6 taken along line 7-7 ofFig. 3, A Y WFig. 8 is a side elevational view taken along line 8 8 of Fig. 2,

Fig. 9 is a view similar to Fig. Sutakenialong line 9 9 Fig. 10 is avertical sectional view taken along line 10-10 of Fig. 8, w n Fig. 11 isa side elevational view taken along line lll- 1l of Figs. 2 and 3, Y

Fig. 12 is a transverse sectional view of the machine taken along line12--12 of Fig. 6 with a box blank in position, y

Figs. 13, 14 and 15 are views similar to Fig.v 12, taken along lines13-i3, 1l4-14 and 1.5-1.5 of Fig. 6, i

Fig. 16 is a transverse sectional viewo'f the machine taken along line16-16 of Fig. 7 with a lbox blank in position,

Figs. 17 and 18 are views similar to Fig. 16 taken along lines 1l--17and lit-18 of Fig. 7,

Fig. 19 is a perspective view of the crushing rollers support,

Fig. 20 is a transverse sectional view taken alongline zii-2s of Fig.19, Y

, Fig. 2l is a View similar to Fig. 20 taken along line zi-zi 0i Fig.19,

Fig. 22 is a View similar to Fig. 19 taken from the rear of the support,

Fig. 23 is a fragmentary perspective View showing the gluing mechanism,

Fig. 24 is an exploded perspective view of the gluing mechanism,

Fig. 25 is a plan view of one embodiment of the box blank in flatpositon,

Fig. 26 is a view similar to Fig. 25 of the box blank infoldedcondition,

Fig. 27 is a plan view of another embodiment of the box blank in flatposition, and

Fig. 28 is a view similar to Fig. 27 of the box blank in foldedcondition.

Referring now to the drawings, the machine is designed to crush and gluecomplementary connecting portions at the free ends of a conventional boxblank which may be of the type shown in Figs. 25 and 27.

Referring to Fig. 25, thevbox blank 1 comprises an elongated sheethaving four rectangularpanels A, B, C

i and D; panels A, C and B, D respectively being of the same dimension.The side edges 2 of the panels are suitably scored for ready foldingthereof fand each of said edges 2 has la rectangular flap 3 extendinglaterally therefrom. In addition, the end of panel'D has a connector ap4 formed integral therewith to which glue may be applied vin the mannerhereinafter to be described so that when the box blank is folded Vto theposition shown in Fig. 26 the connector flap 4 will be positionedbeneath the end 5 of panel A to be secured thereto.

The embodiment shown in Fig. 27 is similar to that shown in Fig. 25 andcorresponding portions have the same reference numerals primed. Thepanel D' of box blank 6 has no connector flap, but the transversedimension of panel D' is equal to that of panel D including itsconnector tlap 4 so that the end 7 thereof itself may be secured to theendl 8 of panel A in the manner hereinafter to be described.

As shown in Fig. 1, the machine comprises a substantially rectangularframe 11 supported by standards 12 mounted on the floor. Extendingbetween the side beams 15 of the frame 11 (Figs. 2 and 3) are identicalparallel `conveyors 16 which, as shown in Fig. 12 for example, supportthe reverselybent edges 17 of the box blank as it is advanced from theinlet 18 of the machine to the outlet 19 thereof.

As shown in Figs. 2, 3, 8 and 9, each of the conveyors 16 comprises anelongated substantially L-shaped beam 21 having a vertical side Wall 22at the lower edge of which is rotatably mounted a plurality of spacedpulleys 23, the stud shafts 24 on which said pulleys are mounted.extending laterally from the side wall 22 to support the pulleys invertical position. Associated with each of the pulleys 23 is acorresponding plurality of pivotally mounted pulleys 25, each of whichis mounted on a stud shaft 26 aixed tothe end of a link 27 pivoted atits opposite end as at 28 to the side wall 22 of the beam 21, the pulley25 also being in vertical position. The link 27 has a boss 31 projectingtherefrom which mounts one end of a screw 32, the other end of whichprojects through an opening in a bar 33 aflixed at one end to the upperedge of the side wall 22 of beam 21. A coil spring 34 encompasses theportion of screw 32 between boss 31 and bar 33 and a nut 3S is screwedon the end of the screw extending above the bar 33. Thus, by reason ofthe tension of spring 34, the link 27 and the pulley 25 thereon areurged downwardly, adjustment of the screw 32 permitting adjustment ofthe tension on the link 27.

Affxed to the end of beam 22 adjacent the inlet 18 is a plate 37 whichhas vertically aligned hubs 38 and 39 as shown in Fig. l0. Extendingthrough the upper hub 38 is a stud shaft 41 which is rotatably mountedin bearing 42. One end of the stud shaft 41 mounts a'pulley 43 alignedwith the upper pulleys 25. The other end of the stud shaft 41 mounts agear 44 which meshes with a gear 4S aixed to one end of a bushing 46which extends through the hub 39, the other end of the bushing having apulley 47 affixed thereto. Extending; through the bushing and splinedthereto as at 48 is a shaft 49 rotatably mounted at each end in suitablebearings 51 (Fig. 2). Positioned on the beam 22 at the outlet endthereof are pulleys 23', 25 (Fig. 9) aligned respectively with thepulleys 23 and 25. The pulleys 23' and 2S' are mounted so that they maybe moved longitudinally along the beam 22 to maintain tension on thebelts 55, 56 encompassing the pulleys 47, 23, 23' and 43, 25, 25respectively. T0 this end, each of the pulleys 23', 25 is mounted on astud shaft 57 affixed to a plate 58 which has a pair of parallellongitudinal slots 59 through which extend locking screws 61 whichextend through threaded openings in a boss 64 extending laterally fromwall 22. Thus, when the locking screws 61 are loosened and the screws 63are adjusted, the position of the plate may be set as desired to adjustthe tension on the associated belt.

Aixed to the side wall 22 of the beam 21 as shown in Figs. 2 and 8 is aplurality of pairs of spaced'brackets 65, the brackets of each pairbeing vertically spaced by a distance greater than that between theadjacent runs 67 and y 68 of the belts 5S and 56.

Rotatably mounted between the brackets of each pair 1s a pair ofvertical rollers 71 against which the edge 17 of the box blank will abutin the manner hereinafter described.

Means are provided to afford transverse adjustment of the conveyors 16.To this end each of the conveyors 16 has depending therefrom a pair ofspaced brackets 72, each with a hub 73 at its lower end and shafts 74mounted on the frame of the machine extend through transversely alignedhubs 73 of the conveyors to support the conveyors. Also depending fromeach of the conveyors 16 is a bracket 75 longitudinally offset from eachother as shown in Fig. l, the lower end of which has a threaded openingthrough which extends an associated adjustment screw 76. Thus uponrotation of the adjustment screws, the respective conveyors 16 may beindependently moved transversely to desired position.

Extending the length of the machine between the conveyors 16 is thelower conveyor 81. As shown in Fig. ll the lower conveyor comprises anelongated channel member 82 from which depends a pair of spaced brackets83 and 84, each of said brackets having a hub 85 at its lower endthrough which the mounting shafts 74 extend to support the lowerconveyor. Also depending from the channel member of the lower conveyoris a bracket 86 having a threaded opening at its lower end through whichextends an adjusting screw 87.

Aixed to the sides of the channel member 82 adjacent the inlet 18 areplates 91 which have transversely aligned openings through which extendsthe drive shaft 49. Mounted on the shaft 49'between the plates 91 is aroller 92 which is splined to said shaft as shown in Fig. 1l.

Afxed to the other end of channel member 82 are plates 93 (Figs. 3 andll) which have transversely aligned elongated slots 94 through whichextend a stud shaft 95 that mounts a roller 96, a belt 97 encompassingsaid rollers 92 and 96 as shown in Fig. l1. Means are provided to adjustthe tension on the belt 97. To this end, each of the plates 93 has alateral boss`98 through which extends a screw 99, the end of the screwabutting against the hub of an auxiliary plate 101 slidably mounted onthe plate 93, the stud shaft 9S extending through said hub. Each of theauxiliary plates 101 has a plurality of longitudinal slots 102 throughwhich locking screws 103 extend into threaded openings in the plates 93.Thus, with the locking screws loosened the screws 99 may be adjusted toapply tension to the belt and then the locking screws are tightened toretain the auxiliary plate and the stud shaft mounted thereon in setposition.

Positioned between the side conveyors 16 above the lower conveyor 81 isthe crushing roll supporting structure 10S.

As shown in Fig. 19, the supporting structure comprises an elongatedmember having a side Wall 106 with a plurality of lateral ledges,illustratively three in numlber, designated 107, 108, 109, extending atright angles therefrom. The ledges are secured in any suitable manner toa supporting beam 111 (Fig. 1) extending longi` tudinally of the machinemidway between its sides and mounted in any suitable manner to the frameof the machine. The leading end 112 of the supporting structure extendsslightly beyond and above the inlet 18 of the machine as shown in Fig. land the rear end 113 of the supporting structure is longitudinallyspaced from the outlet end 19 of the machine as shown in Fig. 3.

The supporting structure at the lower edge of wall 106 has a ledge 114(Fig. 19) extending substantially the length thereof at right angles tothe wall 106, said ledge having an elongated cutout 115 therein belowthe middle supporting ledge 108. The side wall 106 of the supportingstructure adjacent the ledge 107 has an opening 116 through whichextends a shaft 117. The shaft 117 extends transversely across themachine (Fig. 2) and has sprocket wheels 118 and 119 aliixed thereto oneach side respectively of the side wall 106.

Encompassing the sprocket wheel 119 is a sprocket chain 121 which ridesover an idler sprocket wheel 122 :(Figs and 7) mounted onashaft123'exte'nding-laterally Afrom Sa bracket124 depending fromgthe;supporting Ibeard 111. l- As yis clearlyshown in Fig. 7, the bracket hasan elongated slot 125 through which theshaft extends and a screw 126extending through-,the--vbracket permits vertical adjustment of theposition'of the shaft to take up slack in the sprocket chain 121.

The sprocket chain 121 also encompasses a sprocket wheel 127 aixed ona'stud Shaft 128 as shown in fFig..5. The stud shaft 127 exends throughabushing 1311 carried on a plate 132 which has a lateral lip 133 at itsupper edge extending over the upper edge of wall 106. Thelip has athreaded opening through which'a-screw 138 extends, the Screw beingrotatably mounted in 4'a'suitable opening 139 l(Fig. 19) in the upperedge of the-side wall l 1076. :Theil-plate. 132 has 'parallel elongated"slots 134 through which extend screws :135 `that are `secured einthreaded openings 136 in wall 106 so thatrwhen'screw's 13,5 areloosenedandl screw 138 turned, verticakadjustment of plate 132 is provided. v I

The stud shaft 128 is aligned with-an elongated'vertical opening 141 inthe side wall ofthe supporting structure 105 and extends throughsuchopening, the ledger 114 having a cutout portion 142 aligned with suchopening 141. A flixed to the end of the stud'shaft and valigned withsaid cutout 142 is a crushing roller143 'which`is vertically'alignedwith a second crushing roller 146posi- Ationed directly therebeneath andmounted on'a shaft 1 47 extending through an opening 148 -in the skirt149 of the elongated member depending from the'elongated ledge 114.

It is apparent by 'adjustment of the screw 138, the upper crushingroller 143 may be moved away'from'the idler crushing roller 146 toadjust the spacing between said rollers.

The shaft 117 also mounts the sprocket wheel 118 previously describedwhichv isengaged by asprocket chain 153 that also engages a sprocketwheel 154afixed on a shaft 155. vAlso aixed on said shaft is a crushingroller 156 aligned with the cut away portion '-115 in the elongatedledge 1.14 of the elongated 'supporting structure 105. I

The shaft 155 extends through anelongated kslot 157 in wall 106 and issecured at its outer end `as byla. nut 158. Encompassing the elongatedslot 157 in wall'106 is a hu-b 161 which has an elongated depression 162therein through which the elongated slot'15'7 extends. A follower member163 (Fig. l5) is positioned `in said slot and has an opening throughwhich the shaft 155 extends. Rotatably mounted at one endto thefolloweris ascrew 164 which extends through a vthreaded opening 165 in the ledge108and an aligned opening in'l the beam 111. Thus, when the Vscrew 164is jrotated the follower will be raised `and lowered to correspondinglyraise and lower the crushing roller 156 andthe sprocket wheel 154carried thereon. The crushing roller 156 is vvetically aligned with anidler crushing roller 166'mounted on a Shaft 167 extending through anopening 168 in the skirt 149 of the elongated member.

The Wall 106 of the elongated member has asubStan-y tially rectangularplate 171 extending laterally 'therefrom and inclined at an angle, saidinclination being downwardly from the inlet 18 towards the outlet 19.The plate as shownin Fig. 19 is between the inletend '18 of theelongated member and the elongated cutout 115. Secured to said plate isa bracket 172 (Fig. 6) to which a link 173 is pivotally mounted as at174. The free end of the link has a stud shaft 175 on which a sprocketwheel 176 is mounted, the sprocket chain153 "encompassing sprocketWheels 118 and 154 riding overnsaid sprocket wheel 176. The link `173has a threadedsubstar'ta'lly vertical bore through which extends`'a-screw 177 so that upon rotation of the screw the link may be movedto take up slack'in the sprocketchain vIn 'addition to theledg'e 114,`the 4elongated supporting memberrhas alaterat flange formedfrnA`th1`eefs`e'ctons 181, 182, 183 extending rearwardly '-fr'omsubstantially theloweredgejof*skirt"149. As shown Ain Fig-22, sec- `tion181"extendsi'frommearthe'leadingfedge112 of the supporting member in'ahorizontal plane toward the cutiaway portion and then is inclinedupwardly as at 181a. The-section 182 is'longitudinally spacedfromsaidsection 181 and extends' in a horizontal-plane tothe cutout 142where it is also inclined upwardly as at 182a. The section 183 islongitudinally spaced from said section 182 and extends in a. hsrzgetel:Plan? fwatdhe outlet @11d 113 o t' tliefsupportingrnemberp'lbeing'inclined upwardly adiaent sugli Outlefedas 211.18.30- c....Y

f Means'are provided to vvapply glue tolone ofthe connecting portions`offtlte boxrblank., To this end, asshown in Figs. 5 'and'.'23,` aUA-shaped bar-191uisjysecuredto v the end 192 of .beam 111.extendingtransversely thereacross. ySecured to tliedepending legsY 194of'theubar191 are `side plates 195' to the ends of which is secured atransy'verse cross piece 196. A A

Extending between the side,A plates 195Aare1rods 197 and 198, thelatter'being threaded and rotatably mounted inthe plates 19S. rIfhe rods197,Y 198support a bracket 199 which has alignedbosses 201 at eachcorner through which the rods 197, 1,98 extend, the bossesaccommodatingI the threaded rod 198, being correspondingly threaded sothat upn'rota'tion of threaded rod k198 as by handwheel 202 the bracketmay be moved transversely with respect to die. machine,-

Suspendedfrom the bracket 1991s a support 203 guided in any suitablemanner forkvertical movement from bracket 119. V A screw 205extendsthrough'the bracket vinto*y a threaded opening in the support topermitvertical adjustment of the latter. u u L I The lowerend of thesupporthas a pair of ears 207 (Eig. 24) each with an opening throughwhich extends a stud" shaft 208, one end of the latter having a glueAroller 209 mounted thereon,vsaid'roller being ladapted to be positioneddirectly overjan idler roller k211 rotatably mounted on a stud shafty212extending laterally from opening 213 at the end 113 of the supportingstructure 105.

,The otherend vof-shaft 208 is connected by a exible cable 215 toa studshaft 216 mounted'on a'post 217 risingfrom'side beam 15. a y

Thef side wall 218 (Fig. 24) of support 203 may have a plurality ofdowel pins 21.9 which extend into a block 221 4which has an associatedplate 222 rigidtherewith. The plate 222 hasarectangular slot 223 throughwhich extendsanv elongated boss 224 formed on a glue tank 225 to securelthe glue tank 22S-to theplate 222, the latter havingha bore 2285through which extends a pivot pin 229, the latter also extendinguthrougha bore 231l in said boss 224.

The tank 2 25 has ,sidewalls 232 and a floor 233. The ends of the lsidevwalls 232 straddle the roller 209 and one of theuwalls has openings235, 236 through which extend tubes 237 andl238,thelatter passingvthrough the support to provide for a glue `inlet and outletrespectively.

Means are'provided to ldrive the shaft 49 to rotate the gears 44, 45and, pulleys 43, 47 so that the lower runs of the belts ,55, 56'willmove from the inlet toward the outlet, and also to drive the Acrushing,rollers 156 and 143 aswell asthe glue rolleri209. To this end as isshown in Fig. 1, a drivemotor M Vis-providedvwhich, through belt 241drives a pulley242 mounted on a shaft 243 which also'mounts sprocketwheels 244 andA 245. The sprocket wheel 245 throughl sprocket chain 246and clutch 247 drives a sprocket chain 248. Thus, the drive to sprocketchain 248 may bestoppedeven though the motor M is still rotating forthepurpose hereinafterwdescribed. The sprocket chain 248 rides over anidler sprocket wheel 249 and nieshe'swith a Vsprocket wheel 251 (Fig. 2)affixed on shaft 49 'anda sprcket wheel 2.52, affixed on shaft 1,17.Thus upon rotation ofnthe sprocket chain 248, the shaft C49 will berotated to rotate gears 44 and 45 to 7 drive the belts 55, 56 and theshaft 112 will be rotated to drive the crushing rollers 143, 156.

The sprocket wheel 245 is connected by sprocket chain 255 to a sprocketwheel 256 mounted on shaft 216 to drive the glue roller 209 (Fig. 23).

By reason of the clutch 247 when advance of the box blanks is to bestopped by opeartion of the clutch, the glue roller 209 will still bedriven to prevent drying of glue thereon.

Operation Where the equipment hereinabove described is intended to crushthe flap 4 of the box blank shown in Fig. 25 and the associated portionof the panel A thereof, the Yscrew 138 (Fig. 7) controlling crushingroller 143 is turned to space the rollers 143, 146 so that no crushingpressure will be exerted.

The screw 164 controlling crushing roller 156 is turned to space suchroller from the associated roller 166 by a distance equal to thethickness of the 4sheet from which the box blank is formed.

The side conveyors 16 are adjusted transversely by rotation of screws 76so that with the lower crease 200 of the box blank between panels B andC resting on conveyor belt 97 which is set to the desired transverseposition by adjustment of screw 87, the reversely bent side edges 17 ofthe box blank may be positioned between the adjacent runs 67 and 68 ofbelts 55, 56 and such edges 17 will abut against the vertical rollers71.

With the drive motor M energized, through the sprocket chains 241, 246and 248, the gears 44 and 45 will be rotated in direction to advancetheadjacent runs 67 and 68 of belts 55, 56 from the inlet 18 of the machinetoward the outlet 19 thereof. In addition, these sprocket chains willdrive gear 252 (Fig. 2) to rotate the shaft 117 and the sprocket wheels118 and 119 thereon.

With the belts 55, 56 moving in the direction previously described, thefolded box blank is inserted into the inlet 18 of the machine so thatthe lower crease 200 will rest on center conveyor belt 97 with the sideedges 17 of the box blank positioned between belts 55, 56 abuttingagainst the rollers 71. In addition, as shown in Fig. l2 the edgeportion of panel A of the box blank is located on the elongated ledge114 and the edge 5 of panel D is positioned on ledge 181 below theelongated ledge 114.

As the box blank is advanced by the lower conveyor 81 and the sideconveyors 16, it will pass from the positions shown in Figs. l2, 13 and14 to the position shown in Fig. 15.

In this position the ap 4 of the panel D will be cammed upwardly by theupwardly inclined portion 181e of ledge 181 so that both the edge 5 ofthe panel A and the flap 4 of'panel D will pass between the idlercrushing roller 166 and the crusher roller 156, whichis driven by thedrive imparted to the associated sprocket wheel 154 through sprocketchain 153 and sprocket wheel 118 on driven shaft 117. As the spacingbetween crushing rollers 156 and 166 is equal to the thickness of thesheet from which the box blank is formed, it is apparent that only whenthe ap 4 is aligned with the crushing rollers will such ap and thecorresponding portion of the edge 5 of panel A be crushed to a thicknessequal to the thickness of the sheet and no other portion of the panelwill be so crushed. After such crushing action has occurred, withcontinued advance of the box blank from the position shown in Fig. 15 tothe position shown in Fig. 16, the edge 5 of the panel A will continueto ride along the elongated ledge 114 and the edge 5 of the panel D willbe cammed downwardly by the downwardly inclined surfacev 200 (Fig. 2.2)of the wall 106 and will ride on the ledge 182 with the free edges 5 and5' spaced from each other.

Although the rollers 143, 146 in Fig. 17, are shown in crushingposition, this figure is intended to illustrate the use of the equipmentfor box blanks of the typeshown in Fig. 27. Hence, when the equipment isused "for box 8 blanks ofthe type shown in Fig. 25, as presently de'-scribed, as 'the box blank advances from the position shown in Fig. 16to` the position shown in Fig. 17, inasmuch as the second set ofcrushing rollers have been adjusted as previously described so that theupper crushing roller 143 is spaced from the lower crushing roller 146,as the edge 5' of the panel D is cammed upwardly by the inclined portion182a of the ledge 182, it willmove between the crushing rollers 143 and146'without any crushing action being imparted to the flap 4.

Further movement of the box blank from the position shown in Fig. 17toward the position shown in Fig. 18 will advance the ap 4 of panel Dbetween the driven glue roller 209 and the idler glue roller 211.

As roller 209 is driven from flexible shaft 215 and shaft 217, glue willbe picked up from glue tank 225 and applied to the upper surface of flap4 which is spaced from the edge 5.

Thereupon, the box blank will be ejected from the machine and fed into asuitable equipment (not shown) which may be a squaring equipment of thetype shown in co-pending application Serial No. 620,841, -led Nol vember7, 1956, which will square the folded box blank and apply pressure tothe complementary connecting portions so that the glue will set properlyfor adhesion of such connecting portions.

Where the box blank is of the type shown in Fig. 27 and it is desired tocrush only the edge 7 of the panel D, the crushing roller 156 (Fig. l5)is adjusted by screw 164 so that it; is suiciently spaced from roller166 so that no crushing action will be effected. l

The crushing roller 143 (Fig. 17)- is adjusted so that it is spaced adesired distance from roller 146, say half the thickness of the panel sothat when the edge 7 of panel D passes between rollers 143, 146 it willbe crushed the desired amount. Thereupon glue is applied to the uppersurface of edgev 7 in the manner previously described.

With the equipment above described, dependable crushing will be effectedof only the desired portions of the box blank without need for cams andintricate adjustment and without need for stoppage of the equipment forreplacement of cams when runs of box blanks having connecting portionsof dilerent dimensions are used.

As many changes could be made in the above construction, and manyapparently widely different embodiments of this invention could be madewithout departing from the scope lof the claims, it is intended that allmatter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanyingdrawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a `limitingsense. Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new anddesire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

l. A crushing machine for a folded box blank of the type havingreversely bent side edges and complementaryv overlapping connectingportions comprising a pair of parallel conveyors for supporting the sideedges of the blank to advance the latter, a support between saidparallel conveyors extending parallel thereto for the bottom of said boxblank, and a pair o-f vertically spaced crushing rollers mounted on axesat' right angles to said parallel conveyors between which at least oneof the connecting portions of the blank is advanced to effect of.differtween said support and at least one of said conveyors. 5. Thecombination set forth in claim l in which means are provided to applyglue to one of the surfaces of one of said connecting portions aftersaid one of the connecting portions has been crushed.

6. The combination set forth in claim 1 in which means are provided toeffect vertical spacing of said connecting portions after crushing ofsaid one of said r connecting portions and means to apply glue to theupper surface of the lowermost connecting portion after such crushingoperation.

7. The combination set forth in claim 1 in which means are provided toadvance both of said connecting portions between said crushing rollers.

8. The combination set forth in claim 1 in which means are provided toeiect vertical spacing of said connecting portions and to advance onlythe lowermost connecting portion between said crushing rollers.

9. A crushing machine for a folded box blank of the type havingreversely bent side edges and complementary overlapping connectingportions, said machine comprising a pair of parallel conveyors forsupporting the side edges of such box blank, a lower conveyor betweensaid side conveyors extending parallel thereto for the bottom of suchbox blank, an elongated support between said side conveyors extendingparallel thereto and lying in a plane above the lower conveyor, a pairof vertically spaced crushing rollers mounted on said support on axes atright angles thereto, and means to actuate said conveyors and saidcrushing rollers for advance of at least one of the connecting portionsbetween said crushing rollers to etect crushing of such portion.

10. The combination set forth in claim 9 in which each of the parallelconveyors comprises a pair of continuing vertically aligned, belts anddrive means for said belts mounted on a horizontal axis at right anglesto said conveyor.

1l. The combination set forth in claim 9 in which each of said parallelconveyors comprises an elongated member having two rows oflongitudinally spaced vertically aligned pulleys thereon, each of saidpulleys being mounted on a horizontal axis, an endless belt encompassingthe pulleys of each of said rows with adjacent 10 runs of said beltsextending substantially parallel to each other, and means to drive saidbelts.

12. The combination set forth in claim 1l in which a plurality ofrollers are mounted on said elongated members, said rollers beingmounted on vertical axes between the belts and the supporting member andsubstantially aligned with the adjacent runs of said belts whereby theside edges of said box blank when advanced by said belts will ride alongsaid rollers.

13. The combination set forth in claim 11 in which supporting rods areprovided extending at right angles to said conveyors, means slidablymounting said conveyors on said supporting rods for movement of saidconveyors at right angles to said rods and means to effect such movementof the conveyors to vary the transverse spacing therebetween.

14. The combination set forth in claim 9 in which each of said parallelconveyors comprises an elongated member having two rows oflongitudinally spaced vertically aligned pulleys thereon, each of saidpulleys being mounted on a horizontal axis, an endless belt encompassingthe pulleys of each of said rows with adjacent runs of said beltsextending substantially parallel to each other, a shaft extendingtransversely across the machine at right angles to said elongatedmembers, the endmost pulley of one of the rows of each conveyor beingoperatively connected to said shaft and means to rotate said shaft.

l5. The combination set forth in claim 14 in which a bushing isrotatably mounted in each of said elongated members, said shaft extendsthrough said bushing and is splined thereto to permit movement of saidelongated member and bushing at right angles to said shaft and saidendmost pulleys are mounted on said bushing.

16. The combination set forth in claim 9 in which means are provided toeffect relative vertical movement of said crushing rollers to vary thespacing therebetween.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,637,251 Spiess May 5, 1953 2,764,918 La Bombard Oct. 2, 1956

